


Shaken to the core

by Fibi94



Series: Universe Echo [5]
Category: Designated Survivor (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 05:30:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15574824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fibi94/pseuds/Fibi94





	Shaken to the core

Ever since Tom got the warning about the dirt bomb he felt like vomiting, he’s going from one meeting to another, John Forstell trying to mask his fright as he briefs him to the FBI’s investigation. When he hears the words he dreads that the bomb is located probably in D.C. his blood freezes, the secret service wants him in the bunker as soon as possible and he knows Mike well enough by now to know that he can and will bend the rules for him a lot but now when his safety is really on the line.

“With all due respect sir, if you don’t start moving right now, I will carry you to the bunker!” Mike says incredibly fed up with Tom’s stonewalling, he stopped again to talk to Emily and Aaron, he doesn’t know why but he feels like he’s spiraling out of control in the few short moments. Tom turns to Mike, he’s not really shocked, he knew he was pushing his friend to his limit.

“Alright.” Tom tells him, finally starting to walk to the elevator. “Is Alex there? The kids?” he asks Mike, as his friend softly pushes him inside the elevator.

“Penny and Leo haven’t returned from their trip with your brother and we are delaying their return until this is resolved, the first lady is moved to the bunker as well.” Tom nods, he remembers Alex telling him before leaving for the summit in Camp David that Trey had taken the kids with him to a trip in the Great Canyon, he was confused then and he still kinda is given that his brother hates educational trips.  “Thank you Mike.” Tom says, giving Mike a small smile.

He sees Mike smirking, “Thank me by doing what I say will you?” 

“I could try, but where’s the fun in that Mike?” Tom responds, a mischievous smirk on his lips, drives Mike mental, he groans, “Facing the wiping off of the city and he makes jokes, how is this, my life?” Mike mutters under his breath.

“It would be boring without him.” Aaron tells him, he was standing right next to him, his smirk is annoying Mike to no end, he narrows his eyes, forming the deadliest look he can muster and whispers, “Shut up Shore.”

* * *

 

 When the doors of the elevator opened, Tom came face to face with a frantic looking Alex, she was waiting right there for him, her agents whose names he forgot again were looking as frustrated as he knows Mike feels, their poker faces worse then Mike’s, Tom smirks as Alex turns and looks at him coming off the elevator. She wraps her arms around his shoulders and he can feel her breathing out in relief. They stay like that, silent just hugging for a few minutes before Alex pulls back, a stray strand of hair falls from her low bun and he tucks it behind her ear.

“Right now I really hate your job!” she tells him, a smirk on her lips makes him smile.

Tom leans forward placing a small kiss on the corner of her mouth, telling her, “Me neither.”  He uses his right hand to cup her face, his other hand still clutching her hand tightly. “How are you?” he asks when he realizes that her fingers are a little colder than normally.

“Cold.” He nods and murmurs, “It does feel rather cold.” He turns to Mike who’s standing there, “Why is it so cold?” he asks him remembering clearly the conversation they had a few weeks after he was sworn in when Mike told him that the bunkers were fully functioning to accommodate the president and first family for weeks if need arises. Mike smiles apologetically “Sorry, heating just kicked in, it’s gonna get warmer soon.”

Alex smiles “Yes please I can’t feel my toes!” she says, Tom reaches for her other hand, trying to warm them up but to no avail his hands were just as cold if not colder than hers.

Mike chuckles “Will do.” He says before he turns around and disappears around a corner.

“Everything will be alright.” Alex says, he can hear the question she doesn’t say clearly, she’s not sure they will be alright and Tom realizes that he doesn’t know either, he still finds himself lying with a surprising ease, “Of course!” keeping a straight face shocks him more than the fact that he lied.

Alex can tell Tom is lying, he’s not that good at it as he might imagine but she lets it pass, she can hear Emily’s heels following them closely behind and she turns to see Lyor following a couple steps behind as well as they walk into the big conference room at the end of the corridor.

Tom turns around and realizes that Seth isn’t there, “Where’s Seth?” he asks.

“Standing by you need to make a decision on what to tell the public.” Lyor tells him, Alex walks to the couch on the side of the room, letting them deal with their problems, it’s not that she’s not interested because she is, but she tries to stay as far away from politics as possible, she might have originally planned to be a more of a Abbey Bartlet  kind of first lady but she realized pretty soon that the people around her wanted her to be more of a Jackie Kennedy, especially given how weak and fragile her husband’s grip on the presidency was.

“Tell them circumstantial evidence doesn’t require informing the public Lyor.” Tom tells him.

“Yes sir, but hunkering down on a bunker with your cabinet, senior staff and family does pose an interest of the American people.” Lyor has a point, Tom has to admit that, but he still doesn’t want to give this issue a bigger platform, Alex bites her tongue to stop herself from speaking up.

“First it wasn’t my choice it was a demand by the secret service and secondly, if the terrorist finds out that we know he’ll detonate the bomb early.” Tom says.

“It’s a calculated risk sir.” Lyor reminds him, Tom nods, “It’s still a risk I’m willing to take, tell Seth to run interference.” Tom tells them both, Emily and Lyor nod “Yes sir.” They say and turn around to leave.

“Are you?” Alex asks him, Tom looks at her slightly puzzled. “What?” he asks.

“Willing to take the risk Tom, are you?” Tom sits down next to her, taking her hand in his, he isn’t sure he is willing, but what other choice does he have now? “I don’t know Alex.” He admits to her, he looks lost, like he doesn’t know what to do next. She bites her bottom lip, Tom notices it and it puzzles him, she is doing it more nowadays, especially since coming to the White House and he never found the time to ask her why. “Is there anything you want to tell me?” he asks her not able to keep it to himself anymore.

Alex chuckles and gives his hand a squeeze “When all this is over we need to have a talk on what type of first lady you wanna have.” She tells him, Tom’s face twists in a look of confusion “What do you mean?” he asks her, she smiles and cups his face “Now it’s not the time Tom.”

* * *

 

Aaron was worried, he knew they were running against a clock that wouldn’t stop ticking and as much as he tried to trust Hannah knew what she was doing he couldn’t help but worry. He sees Seth sitting in his office, typing feverishly on his computer, his eyes stuck on the screen as the words formed there.

“Hey Seth.” He says knocking on the open door, he stops typing and turns around a smile on his face as he sees Aaron standing there, “Hey man how come you showed up here? Did they find the snake?” he asks, Aaron smiles Lyor came up with the idea of using code words on anything regarding the bomb and the evacuation to the bunker. “Sadly no, the snake is still loose”

Seth groans and leans back on his chair covering his face with his hands “Fuck” he murmurs, “I just want the damned thing found.” Aaron chuckles sadly “Me too man, me too.”

XXXX

Tom knows Alex will be furious with him leaving the bunker before the bomb is found but he doesn’t have much of a choice, he knows what’s right and calming the people down is his main goal right now “My wife will kill me” he murmurs, Andrea chuckles “I don’t think so Tom, she might be upset but she will understand why you did it.”  Andrea’s words have a surprisingly calming effect on him as he breathes out in relief, she might be right, Alex will be worried about him no doubt but she will understand why he does this, eventually and with a lot of discussion but she will

* * *

Kendra walks into a small living room she knows Alex is occupying, the small room was by far one of the warmest ones in the bunker “Hey” she says, Alex looks up from a plastic tray of food and smiles, she leaves what looks like spaghetti on the small coffee table in front of her “Hey Kendra!”

“I just met Andrea Frost.” She says, Alex groans “Was she with Tom again?” she asks, she cannot understand why for the love of god is there today, she could see why she might be needed during the summit but she’s pretty sure there’s an excellent person for the job working in the White House, she’s heard of what Chuck Russnik can do and she’s sure he can do what Andrea is doing in no time.

“Yeah.” Kendra says, Alex can see her biting her lip, trying to look away as she says it and smiles reaching for her hand “I’m ok.” She reassures her, Kendra is the only one who knows what happened between the two women back in high school “Are you?” she asks again, Alex smiles reassuringly, “I’m fine don’t worry.”

“So what do you think of her?” she asks after the two women stayed in silence for a few minutes “She’s insufferable.” Kendra simply says. Alex throws her head back laughing “Tom doesn’t think so”

Kendra turns and looks at her friend there’s sadness in her eyes, one she’s not sure how to combat. Moments like this make her realize just how little she knows the other woman; she doesn’t know what comforts her what counts as reassuring. She just puts her hand on Alex’s back “He will eventually.”

* * *

 

 “He did what?” Alex almost screams when she sees on TV Tom holding a photo op. Kendra got startled when she heard Alex yelling, she turns her attention to the TV screen in the room and bites her lip, she heard of the rumor the president wanted to calm the people down but she didn’t expect the secret service to actually allow him to do it. “Alex come on.” She says standing up and walking to the furious woman “he has his reasons.” She tries, she can see the anger just rising in the older woman to the point where she was actually shaking. She can understand her rage, just this morning she was almost dragged in a bunker because of a dirty bomb probably going off in D.C. and here he was now just hours later giving a press conference acting as if nothing is happening.  

“I will kill him in his sleep!” she yells as she storms out of the room, “He’s dead!” her voice echoes in the corridor as Kendra tries hopelessly to call her name.

* * *

 

Kendra tried following Alex but to no avail, before she could see where she turned to she was lost, “Kendra?” she hears a voice and gets startled she turns to see the vice president leaning against the door frame, she can see the lunch area behind her. “Madam Vice President.” Ellenor smiles sweetly “Why are you patrolling the corridor?” Kendra chuckles and looks down “Well the president is in trouble with the first lady.” Ellenor nods, “The press conference?” she asks, a knowingly smile on her lips.

“Yeah” Kendra says softly.

“She’ll kill him?”

“Smother him with his pillow more like it.” Ellenor winches at the sound, she knows that Alex is capable of a lot of things while mad, and sadly this time she wasn’t going to defend Tom at all.

“Damn!” she curses under her breath, “Here’s the plan Ms Daynes, I’ll warn the president but you have to calm Alex down.” Ellenor says, Kendra breaths out this sounds like a good plan to her “That I can do.”

* * *

 

Tom peeks into the cafeteria and sees Ellenor eating some walnuts from a bowl, “You look like you could use a distraction.” He tells her taking her bowl from in front of her. “You know what usually does the trick for me?”

“Stealing other people’s food?” she asks him, he turns and looks at her, a smug smile on her face, “No, smartass, chess.” He tells her his eyes narrowing trying to act ever a little bit offended but failing.

“Boy you’re boring.” Ellenor says under her breath, Tom bites the inside of his cheek, “I’ll ignore that, one of my main reasons why I wanted you as my vice president is because I heard that you play.” He tells her, making the first move in the game. She looks at him, her eyes narrowing, she’s sure that wasn’t the reason he wanted her for his vice president, she was about 80% sure at least. She doesn’t know him enough but if there’s one thing she does know is that he’s weird.

“Hm, and you thought you could beat me.” She responds moving her pawn to where she wanted.

“My ego is not that fragile.” He complains, it makes her smirk, “Whatever you say.” She says rolling her eyes.

There’s a comfortable silence between them while they make their moves, trying to figure out the board. “You know what?” she starts but stops, she has to warn him about his wife’s wrath but there’s something she needs to tell him first.

“What?”

“You surprised me when you left the bunker this morning Mr. president, it got through me.” Tom looks up, there’s a clear question in his eyes, “How so?” he asks.

“When you went to the photo op, this morning, I was the first in line to the presidency.”

“You were the designated survivor.” He jokes.

“I’m not ready to president.” She admits, it’s not as difficult as she thought it would be.

“I know.”

“No you don’t get it.” She cuts him off, “I don’t think I want to be president.”

“And that was the other reason I picked you.” He says smiling back at her, his smile knowing, “When you seek those jobs, it’s mostly out of ambition, and you end up forgetting the real reason forgetting the people we serve.” She nods and looks down on the board. A wide smile appears on her face as she moves her king, “Well, you’ve been served too.” She looks up; the realization of his mistake hits him. “Check mate.”

“Oh well, two out of three.” He says smiling, Ellenor’s smile falls a little “Your wife wants to kill you.” She tells him as soon as he puts the board away.

“The photo op?” he asks, “The photo op.”

“It’s gonna be ok. Alex wanted to kill me at least once every day of our marriage.” Ellenor chuckles, she gets it, totally, “With all due respect sir, so do I and I know you for barely a month.” Tom laughs, he seems so innocent at the moment, the man she knows has the weight of the world on his shoulders, “My secret talent.” He tells her leaving the room.

* * *

 

Tom walks in the small living room Alex was in before but finds it empty, he looks around and realizes that she probably wouldn’t be anywhere he could find her. He sits down and buries his face in his hands.

“She’s worried.” He looks up and sees Kendra standing at the door, leaning against the doorframe, her hands crossed over her chest. “What?” he asks.

Kendra smiles and walks towards him, she sits down next to him “She’s worried not mad at you.” She tells him again, Tom understands what she means and nods, “It feels like I’m losing her Kendra, after her accident, things were going great but now,” he pauses and bites his lip, he’s not sure how to word his worries, this is something he hasn’t spoken with anyone about, not even his therapist, even though he knows deep down he will be able to help him, “Ever since the summit a couple days ago I feel her slipping farther and farther away from me and the last time that happened I almost lost her for good on that god damned car crash.”

Kendra is surprised by the vulnerability he shows her, she’s not used to that, she has seen him breaking, or at least the beginnings of it but she has never seen him that open with anyone. “I think you should talk to your wife. Really talk to her, no matter how painful that might be.” She bites her lip trying to stop herself from saying more, she knows very well what is bothering Alex more and more these past couple days but it’s not her place to tell him.

He looks at her worried and a little confused, “Alex told you what was bothering her?” he asks, it makes Kendra uncomfortable, this isn’t a question she really wants to answer but she finds herself against a wall right now. “We talked, now it’s your time to do the same.” She gets up and leaves, under any other circumstance this would be highly inappropriate but right now she’s sure she gets a pass, at least in her mind she does.

Tom is taken aback by Kendra’s sudden exit, he blinks a couple times watching her retreating back, he thinks about what she told him, there’s truly something bothering Alex and she felt more comfortable talking to Kendra and not him. it hurts him a lot, he thought he was the one Alex trusted all her secrets to, and until a year ago he was but he realizes all the changes this new job brought to their lives, he no longer is that person, she has found other people that probably she trusts more or are available more to confine to.

* * *

 

Walking in the east wing he realizes that he’s never been here in over a year he’s been president, it’s weird to think about it especially given how much time his wife spends there but he hasn’t. It’s calmer than the west wing, and he thinks he’d enjoy it more, the door to Alex’s office is closed and he finds himself unsure whether to knock or not, taking a deep breath he decides to knock.

Alex is surprised by the knock on the door, she doesn’t expect anyone to come, and pretty much no one knows she’s here right now, after seeing Tom have the press conference and learning that it was Andrea he confined to before deciding to go ahead with it she knew that her office was the quietest and safest place for her to be if she wanted to stay married for longer than a couple months till the divorce. She knew full well she was going to say something, and then he would say something and the whole fight would escalate before they even realized it.

“Come in.” she says. She’s surprised to see Tom walking in the room, she didn’t think he even knew where her office was “Tom, didn’t expect you here.” This sounds so weird in her ears, it feels unnatural. He smiles “Did that sounded as weird for you to say as for me to hear it?” he asks, she doesn’t know why but it puts her at ease, this was after all just Tom, “Yeah.” He walks to her side and leans against her desk, this feels familiar, only it’s her leaning against _his_ desk.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the photo op, I was scared you might try and stop me.” He admits, it wasn’t easy to but this was the truth. He knew that she’d be worried about him leaving the bunker and she would try to stop him or come with him and neither were options he wanted to face, he knew Andrea was a safest choice, she wouldn’t say no, she wouldn’t try to stop him or change his mind, she would agree with him as she did.

“Is that why you asked Andrea?” she asks, he’s surprised she knows, but then again how could she not. It hits him right then and there how little he cared about her feelings, he just focused on his.

“Yeah, I knew she wouldn’t say no, she wouldn’t try to stop me.” He finds that admitting it is harder than he imagined it could be. Alex nods but doesn’t say anything, Tom is a little unnerved by it, he doesn’t know what to assume, what to say. “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” he asks after they both stayed silent for a few minutes, Alex looks at him, for a minute her face didn’t change expressions and Tom prepared himself for the worse.

“Never do it again.” She says, Tom breaths out and nods, she reaches for his hand “And dinner tonight.”

* * *

 

 Tom was packing his things, he had a newfound spring on his step and he was humming a tune while gathering his things, he couldn’t believe his luck that Alex forgave him that fast and he was planning on taking advantage of the empty residence after their dinner tonight. “Sir” he groans when he heard Forstell’s voice in the room.

“Director I am in a hurry, if you don’t mind.” He tells him not looking up from the things he packs.

“Yes sir, I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened.” This spikes Tom’s interest and he looks up. He straighten his back

“Did you at any point acted with a nefarious motive?”Tom asks him, John stands up straight, he looks puzzled, confused

“No sir.”

“Did you ever act with the intention to harm me or my family?” Tom asks him again, he sees his face twisting in shame but his answer is still the same, “No sir.”

“Then you don’t need to apologize, Alex is alive, her accident wasn’t your fault.” Tom tries to end the conversation swiftly and just leave the room but John wasn’t done.

“Yes sir, but my actions have put me at odds with my commander in chief.” He says, Tom finally takes a good look on John, he sees parts of his resolve breaking and he wonders is this why he was avoiding him ever since Christmas? He chuckles, “Come hell or high water, both our jobs have high requirements. And I expect you to do yours.” John smiles a little, “Alex on the other hand.” Tom continues a smirk on his lips as he imagines Alex’s reaction to seeing John any time soon, “I’d wear a full body armor if I were you.” John winches, it just makes Tom chuckle again, “Does your insurance covers plastic surgery?”

“I don’t think so sir, why?” John asks, confused.

“Cause you’ll need it.” Tom takes his briefcase and starts walking out of the room, he stops next to John and places a hand on his shoulder, “I almost feel sorry for you, you unlucky son of a bitch.”

“Yes sir.” John says, smiling “Thank you.” There’s a brief silence between the two men before John clears his throat and says, “I should get back to the station, my guys are there, I should get back.”

“You should, it would reassure the public.” Tom tells him.

“Yeah.” John still feels unsure whether or not he should leave.

“Carry on.”

* * *

 

 Tom walks to the residence, Alex is waiting for him in the bedroom, she’s already dressed for out, “Hey.” She tells him, Tom drops his briefcase on the floor and wraps his arms around her waist as he leans in for a kiss.

“Hey, you’re ready?” he asks her, “Yup, you don’t mind I got Trey to join us right?” she tells him showing him to the door, Tom turns, “No, hey, when did you come back?” He asks Trey who walks in the room, his hands in his pockets a large smile on his face as he awkwardly invades Tom and Alex’s hug.

“An hour ago.” He says, Tom pushes him back, Alex smiles seeing the two of them laugh, “By the way your minions? Not really good at hiding.” Tom rolls his eyes “They are not minions Trey; they are the secret service, also minions? How old are you ten?”

“I learned from you.” Tom groans and looks at Alex, this dinner was going to be long and insufferable.

Mike opens the door and walks in he looks at the picture in front of him and turns to Alex “We’re ready when you are ma’am” he says and leaves the room.

“Why is he talking to you? What’s happening?”

Alex laughs “Well Mike likes me more.” She says taking the coat she had left on the back of the couch and walks to the door, leaving Tom and Trey look at her confused.

* * *

 

They walked in a burger shop that Trey insisted was the best, the shop was almost empty, people still afraid to walk outside of their own homes.

Alex walks closer to the girl behind the counter, “I’ll have the green burger with the extra fries with the chili.” She orders.

“No salad?” Trey teases her, Tom elbows him on the side, his brother had this magic ability to put his foot in his mouth all the time, “The burger has some green things in it that counts as a salad.”

“Tom?” she asks him, Tom takes another look on the menu, “A cheeseburger.” Alex looks at him raising her eyebrow, Tom even sees the people working there smirking, “It’s night Alex.” He protests, that’s not how he thought this dinner would be going.

“Alright, if you think that’s enough.” She says walking closer to him and wrapping her arm around his waist gripping his coat.

“I’ll have a cheeseburger too, and a large soda.” Trey orders, Trey walks around the empty restaurant to find the _just right_ booth choosing one at the middle of the store while Alex chose to stay back and help Tom with the food.

* * *

 

 They had just returned from the restaurant and were sitting in the living room, the TV turned on in the background, Tom had walked back to the oval for a moment to grab his glasses that he once again had forgotten there when they saw the explosion on TV “Oh my god!” Alex says. She immediately gets up and almost runs to the west wing; she knows Tom will be devastated, he had forgotten his glasses in the office again and went to get them, this wasn’t at all how she thought the night would go.

 

“Tom? I heard about the explosion” she asks walking inside the private office, Tom looks up from some papers, “I’m expecting news on John and the FBI agents.” She walks to him he leans forward leaning his head on her chest as she runs a hand through his short hair, she knows he’s not alright, no matter how much he tries to act like he is.

“I can’t believe that there would be a day where I would feel sorry for John Forstell.” Alex mutters. Tom chuckles, “Yeah, me neither.” He says.

“Life is mysterious Tom.” She tells him smiling, “Yeah.” He takes a deep breath and pulls back, his arms hug her waist and her hands fall on his shoulders, “How are the kids?” he asks, Alex smiles “They’re fine, sleeping, Trey apparently exhausted them.”

* * *

 

It wasn’t until at least an hour later that Wyatt walks in the room, “Sir! I got agent wells on the phone.” Tom smiles and nods, “Finally,” he mutters, “Thank you Wyatt!”  the young man nods and walks out of the room, Tom picks up the phone “Hannah please give me some good news!”

“Not really sir.” He winches at Hannah’s words, this wasn’t really something he wanted to hear.

“What happened?” he tries to prepare for the worse but when she actually speaks he realizes how little prepared he truly was.

“Six agents are down, John has serious burns and exposure to radiation, and he’s transferred to GW. They are not sure if he’ll make it.”

“Oh no. What about his family, are they informed?” he asks Hannah, “I called his wife sir, she’s on her way to the hospital.” She tells him, her voice almost breaks, she tries to hide it, he knows that but she’s not really that good at it.

“Good, thank you Hannah,” He pauses for a moment, the room around him started spinning “Also, could you sent me the names of the agents that lost their lives, I’d like to send my condolences to their families personally.”

“Of course sir, I’ll have Chuck give them to you right away.”

“Thank you Hannah.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Hannah!” he was about to hang up; he doesn’t know why he stops himself, “Stay safe.”

She chuckles and responds “Always sir.” Before she hanged up the phone.

“What happened?” Alex asks him, she sees him taking a deep breath, taking his time, “Six agents died at the explosion, John is injured, he has serious burns and radiation exposure” he stops the next words are difficult to come out of his lips. “He might not make it.”

“Oh no.” she doesn’t know what else to say about this, her mind goes to Leo he had a date with Jamie, John’s youngest daughter tomorrow morning, “I’ll go talk to Leo.”

“Yeah, Jamie must be devastated.” Tom let’s go of her hand letting her leave but Alex found herself stopping at the door. “Tom? Want me to stay?” she asks, him, “I can have Trey tell him” Tom turns around, he smiles, “No, no it’s better if he hears it from you.” Alex smiles, “Alright, I am sending Trey here though.” Tom nods, he knows that there’s no reason to try and fight her on this, “Alright.” He stops for a moment, “Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
